Helen Parker Keatley

The matriarch of her family and a mentor to all, Helen Parker Keatley passed away on July 17. She will be sorely missed. Helen taught us how to live our lives through her love, grace, and faith. Her zest for life, her belief in goodness, and her loyalty and generosity never wavered. She will be long remembered and cherished by her family, friends, students and countless others whose lives she has touched.

Helen was born to Herman and Meta Schemmer on June 3, 1917, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma.. She was one of four sisters who remained close their entire lives: the Schemmer girls, Laura, Leona, Helen, and Marie. The family moved to St Joseph, Missouri, where she grew up and attended Lafayette High School. She married Harold Parker in1941 and in 1951 they relocated to Bakersfield CA where they raised their three children Kathleen, Robert, and John. Helen was active in her children’s schools and her church and also graduated summa com laude from Fresno State College. She taught twenty years at William Penn Elementary School and was Bakersfield’s Teacher of the Year. After being a widow for ten years, she married Robert Keatley, someone she had known since childhood in St. Joseph. They were married for thirteen years and enjoyed the merging of the Keatley and Parker families.

Helen will be remembered as an extraordinary sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend. She had a radiant smile and sparkling eyes and a sense of joy. She picnicked on the roof with grandkids, invited her classes to her home, celebrated family Christmases with a round table that sat twenty, and, later in life, traveled miles to be with her family.

Helen is survived by her husband Robert Keatley and his family: her brother-in-law Dick Keatley, her step-children Alice “Ali” (John) Wray, Robert (MaryJo) Keatley Jr, and Barbara Morgan; grandchildren Bob(Brenda) Wray, Stacy(Shon) Petitt, Debbie(Chad) Cotter, Jenny Wray, Bo(Connor), Benton, and Tucker Keatley, and Keith Morgan; great-grandchildren Caitlin and Boston Wray, Skylar and Samantha Petitt, and Keatley and Jenna Cotter. In California Helen is survived by her sister Marie, her children Kathleen Newman, Robert (Claudia) Parker, John (Christine) Parker, five grandchildren , four great- grandchildren, and two nephews and their families.

A special thanks to Ali Wray, the twins Debbie and Jenny, Keatley and Jenna, and her good friend Emma Coates who were part of her daily life in St. Joseph.

Services to celebrate Helen’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday at Wyatt Park Christian Church in St. Joseph.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to a charity of the donor’s choice.